10/09/2026
Statement of Benjamin R. Gideon, Counsel for the Family of Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero
In last night’s debate, a candidate for governor, Bobby Charles, stated “I would argue that Biddeford probably wouldn’t have happened if the sanctuary state law didn’t exist here.”
As the attorney representing the Durán Guerrero family, I can say there is absolutely no evidence to support this assertion. Rather than address the culpability of the policies and conduct of our federal government and ICE that resulted in the unjustified killing of an innocent, twenty-five-year-old father, Mr. Charles uses the tragedy to advance a partisan political agenda.
What occurred on July 13, 2026, in Biddeford was a federal operation carried out by federal ICE agents. The claimed purpose of the operation was to execute a final order of removal against some as-of-yet-unidentified individual. A final order of removal is a federal order that only federal officers may execute. There were no State or federal crimes alleged to have been committed by anyone that would have involved any action, coordination or communication with local law enforcement. There is no evidence of any information provided or withheld by local law enforcement that in any way contributed to ICE agents shooting and killing an innocent person who was not the target of the operation.
What Mr. Charles incorrectly calls a “sanctuary law,” LD 1971, does not provide any sanctuary for criminal acts and did not take effect until July 29, 2026—sixteen days after ICE agents shot and killed Johan Sebastián.
It is troubling that a candidate for the state’s highest office would misstate the facts to deflect blame for this tragic killing onto a law that had no bearing on it. That law was enacted to protect public safety by keeping Maine’s local law enforcement from being conscripted into an unrelated federal campaign of immigration terror against innocent, law-abiding Mainers.
